The Finite/Chapters 1-10
This is a condensed summary of the Prologue and Chapters 1-10 translated from Korean. (We are looking for Fan art for each chapter! If you want to contribute, feel free!) Next: prologue 프롤로그 - http://currygom.blog.me/220244284313 An apparent human boy and a young man with four horns stand at a riverbank and scatter ashes. The young man asks his companion where he will go next. The boy replies that he'll return to where he came from. He drinks some water from the river, stretches, and talks a bit about the scenery. The young man tries to pass the boy a handkerchief, noting that it will be the last time. Seeing the boy fighting back his tears, the young man reaches out to remove the boy's earrings but gets hit in response. Having scared the young man, the boy admits that he had been too rude, but he still blames him for "her" early death. The boy acknowledges that he wanted to remove the earrings to ease his pain, but wants to keep them on nonetheless because once he takes them off, his emotions will remain as nothing but memories. The boy calls the young man Kasak and explains that he wants to feel Kasak's mother in his heart just for a while longer. Chapter 1 failure / 불합격 - http://currygom.blog.me/220244285873 Taksaka and Vishnu, both resembling 15-year-old boys, face each other on a hill. Taksaka angrily asks Vishnu if he seriously called him just to get to know some kid, causing Vishnu's young companion, Kalavinka, to tremble. Vishnu tells him to calm down, and hands over a pair of earrings he created. The god reveals that they will conceal Tak's sura nature so he can pass as a human. Tak immediately wants to know if he can enter human cities wearing those, but Vishnu tells him since the primeval god Brahma created the barriers, the earrings are not enough. Disappointed, Tak says they must be trash, but pockets them nonetheless. Vishnu tells him that they will also change his unfeeling nature, then leaves with Kalavinka. Tak tells himself that he will never wear the earrings because having feelings would be bothersome. ♢ ♢ ♢ Year D873, 6th month. In Mistyshore, a depressed girl walks in the summer rain; her pale pink hair and her clothes are drenched. She appears around 14 or 15 years old. She failed the magic academy entrance exam—again. A piece of her ripped-up test results display her birthday attributes: Wind-Nil-Nil. Ian recalls the exam interview. The interviewer asks her why she wants to enter a magic academy despite her high magic failure rate (Nil attributes) and she exclaims that she wants to take down the Destruction Dragon Taksaka. She is then laughed at because not even high-ranking magicians could dream of taking on a nastika. She wants to kill Taksaka out of revenge. Full of grief, she cries out that he took away her entire world. Depressed again, she continues walking until she reaches the seashore. She considers taking her own life, but then notices someone far out at sea who appears to be drowning. Without thinking, she jumps into the rough surf and begins to swim, not thinking about how to bring the person back to shore—or herself... Chapter 2: encounter / 조우 - http://currygom.blog.me/220244286665 There once was a time when humans could borrow the power of both gods (divine magic) and nastikas (fiendish magic). But unlike the gods who were generally harmless to humans, nastikas and their descendents were often destructive and deadly, and fiendish magic that was cast incorrectly could kill both caster and targets. For this reason, humans eventually renounced the suras but suffered from deadly retaliation. Vishnu asked Brahma to create a protective system for human cities. Brahma didn't want to favor either humans or suras, so she created an imperfect barrier system: Only one person may power it, and it will be weak enough for a few superior suras to break through. But up to the year D873 the barriers worked flawlessly because they were powered by gods, not humans, which kept the suras out. It became dangerous to live outside a city, and of those who did, most were heretics who served the suras. ♢ ♢ ♢ Ian continues to swim as she approaches the buoys marking the edge of the barrier, then swims past them towards a person with red skin floating face-up on the water. When she finally reaches out to him, he calmly mumbles that kids are annoying. Ian is embarrassed since this boy, who looks about 15, isn't drowning at all. She is shocked when she notices his four red horns and realizes he must either be a half or a superior sura. As she attempts to swim back, she painfully bumps into the barrier and realizes that she can only get back in through a checkpoint back on shore. However, it's a long way off, she's getting tired, and there could be suras in the water. Feeling despair, she shouts that there are still things she wants to do. As she futilely struggles through the water, she hears a voice asking her what it is that she wants to do. The boy is soon face-to-face with her, and she panics. ♢ ♢ ♢ The boy wonders what a weak-looking female is doing out in the ocean. He asks his question again, and she replies that she wants to take down the Destruction Dragon, Taksaka. The boy appears irritated and asks her what he did, and she replies that a red and black dragon swooped into her village and ate everyone except her. The boy asks her who it was that said it was Taksaka, and she tells him that the dragon himself said so. The boy becomes quiet, and gently helps Ian back to shore. He mutters to himself that he doesn't eat humans. Chapter 3 name / 이름 - http://currygom.blog.me/220244287194 During a huge commotion in her village, Ian's mother hides her in the basement of their house. ♢ ♢ ♢ Once they make it to shore, the boy in shorts tells Ian to sit nearby, then takes a nap on the beach. She sits obediently for a while, afraid to call out to passersby for help in case he really was a sura. He finally wakes up at sunset, only to find Ian fitfully sleeping in a kneeling position. She dreamily calls out for her mother and begins to cry, so he stands up, waking her. Her leg is cramped so he asks her why she slept that way, and gripes that she took his words too literally. As she stands to brush the sand off her dress, the boy drops onto the sand and falls back asleep. She sits back down in a more comfortable position this time. ♢ ♢ ♢ When he wakes up again that night, Ian asks him what type of half he is. She figured that he wasn't a sura because she heard they don't need to sleep. He mutters something about a small sample size, then simply goes along with being called a half. He asks her why she jumped into the sea if she wouldn't be able to return to the shore. She replies that even though people are often selfish, in the case of an emergency a person's judgment can fail and self-preservation can become less of a priority. He tells her she's interesting even with her foolish ambition to defeat Taksaka. She admits that it's the only thing that has kept her going for the past eight years. He then mentions that he has a few guesses from that time frame, but there's one in particular who would impersonate Taksaka. When Ian shakily asks him if he's joking, he makes a few excuses, then realizes that the earrings in his pocket seem to be influencing him. He then asks for her name, and she replies "Ian Rajof." He tells her to just call him "Tak" (a name that only three beings have ever been allowed to call him). Chapter 4 day's conclusion / 예정된 결말 - http://currygom.blog.me/220244287659 After Tak gives her the okay to leave, she hurries through the rain towards the checkpoint. He follows her, so she asks him if he lives in Mistyshore. He doesn't answer, so she informs him that as a half he would need a sponsor to enter, and offers to call his sponsor once she's inside. She then asks him if he has one. As he thinks of an answer with his expressionless face, she assumes he's ignoring her. She tells him that she's not a magician so she can't sponsor anyone. She gives a quick bow and leaves through the checkpoint. ♢ ♢ ♢ As Tak mutters about the uselessness of earrings that can't get him through a checkpoint, Vishnu appears again. Tak is angry that he didn't sense the god's arrival and accuses him of time manipulation. The dragon cautions him that he lost his body in a previous universe from messing around with time too much, leaving the god waiting for that universe to end before he could return. Vishnu only smiles at him and calls him a nice guy who was so worried about the girl that he followed her. Tak glares at him, then hesitatingly asks how he can get into the city. ♢ ♢ ♢ After Ian passes through the checkpoint, two staff members begin to gossip about her profile on the monitor. It shows that she was born in D845 yet didn't get a city residence permit until D865. ♢ ♢ ♢ Vishnu wholeheartedly laughs at a very serious Tak, and points out that it was only yesterday that he showed zero interest in women. The dragon blames it on the earrings, but Vishnu counters that they only change his appearance and hide his emotionless nature, plus they can only affect him if he wears them. The primeval god offers to take the earrings back but Tak refuses, putting them back in his pocket. He decides that earrings or not, he is just passing the time. Besides, any feelings he might have shouldn't be surprising because of the existence of dragon halfs since the beginning of the universe, and he should be no exception. Vishnu begins to tease Tak for thinking about dragon halfs, and the dragon responds by firing his breath at him, splitting the sea in two behind the god. The sound of thunder conceals all the commotion so it doesn't attract any attention. Vishnu reappears again via time manipulation, and Tak asks him if he sees Ian in his future. He also confidently states that there is no way the god would put him in a bad situation. Vishnu smiles but doesn't reply; as the rain pours down, he disappears. Tak looks toward the city and realizes that if any nastika could easily sneak inside, then the city wouldn't last long. He also knows about the various sura tests at the checkpoints, including the infamous vegetable test. He turns his back to the city. Chapter 5 Ian Rajof / 이안 라조프 - http://currygom.blog.me/220244288001 Ian's alarm clock wakes her up, and she feels sore all over because of all the swimming and kneeling she did the day before. Still, she is determined not to be late for her part-time job. ♢ ♢ ♢ Ian wakes up with a start and becomes upset with herself for sleeping away the entire day. She tries to remember what she wore the same day last week; since many of her customers come on specific days of the week, she tries to make sure that they don't see her wear the same thing every week. But because of the lack of time, she puts on something simple and runs out the door, grabbing a raincoat on the way out in spite of the lack of rain. ♢ ♢ ♢ There are many magic shops in the Mistyshore Magic Shopping District, as well as a side business to one of the larger shops which sells beverages. Because of the friendly, pretty girl at the counter, business was good. But even though she was popular with many of her customers, there were others who unjustifiably despised her as a heretic who lived outside of the city most of her life. Ian could hear the hurtful gossip but would always respond with a smile. Asleep at the counter, Ian suddenly hears her manager shouting her name, causing her to nearly fall off. She immediately apologizes. He tells her that he overlooked her lateness since business has been slow because of the rain, but to find her sleeping as well... Ian tells him it won't happen again, but makes no excuses. When the manager leaves, Ian decides to stand by the window and watch the drizzle outside in order to help her stay awake. She thinks of the half with the horns and droopy red eyes, and decides that he must be from the Kinnara, Asura, or... maybe even the Dragon clan. However, since half-dragons are well-documented, the latter is very unlikely. But on the other hand, she remembers how angry he got when she told him she wanted to take down Taksaka. She predicts that she'll probably never see him again, anyway. She suddenly hears the door jingle as a customer enters the shop, and she greets a tall, beautiful woman with long, olive-green hair with bangs covering her eyes, wearing a white dress. The woman orders a warm milk, which Ian thinks is a little odd for someone like her. The customer suddenly asks Ian if she's married, which causes her to nearly spill the milk in surprise. Ian answers no. The woman then asks a few strange questions about the types of men she would be willing to hang out with. Ian simply answers that it all depends, and gets the feeling that this woman is trying to set her up with someone. Ian hands the milk to the woman, who pays with a gold coin. Before Ian could give the woman her change, she has already disappeared. When the next customer enters the shop, causing the door to jingle, Ian realizes that there was no such sound when the woman left. Chapter 6 milk / 우유 - http://currygom.blog.me/220244288351 During a break in the rainfall, as the sleeping Tak leans on a rock while partially submerged, he is awoken by the sound of Vishnu's voice. Tak complains about the god's disappearance the day before, so Vishnu offers the dragon a cup of milk as an apology. Tak hesitates at first, but when Vishnu suggests that he should instead give the cup to someone else, the dragon gulps it down and says it's not bad. Vishnu then tries to goad Tak into admitting that it was delicious. The four primeval gods share equal status, though the nastikas tend to view Vishnu as more approachable than the other three. Tak views him with even less status, and speaks to him very casually. Tak asks the god if he abandoned Kalavinka somewhere. When he replies that she's safe elsewhere, Tak then asks if he always takes action when he sees the future. Vishnu stops laughing, and replies that he sometimes does for greater events. Tak then asks that when the god foresaw the end of a previous universe, did he not change its future because of lack of will or lack of power? When Tak eventually concludes that it's the latter, Vishnu asks him if he wants more milk, and mentions that it was warmed up by Ian. Tak acts as if he doesn't care, but Vishnu offers to get more anyway. As the god heads back to the city, Tak calls him "Stupid" and falls back asleep on the rock. ♢ ♢ ♢ Not long after sunset, Ian cleans up the shop after it has cleared out, all the while wondering how or why the woman from earlier left the shop the way she did. Just as she is ready to leave for home, a young boy enters the shop and asks her if she can deliver. The boy's hair color is similar to that of the woman from earlier, but his clothing is more disheveled so Ian initially decides that they're not related. She tells him that they don't deliver that late, but when the boy awkwardly takes a few coins out his pocket, not even enough to cover delivery, she feels sympathy towards him and and asks where he wants it delivered. The boy requests some warm milk and hands her a slip of paper before quickly leaving the shop. She then opens the note, which reads: "Guy sleeping on a rock close to shore near the east checkpoint." In spite of the vague directions, she decides to make the delivery. ♢ ♢ ♢ Ian persuades the checkpoint staff to let her pass through, even though they warn her that it could be dangerous to be outside the barrier at night. The stars glitter in the sky and the sea is relatively quiet. She scans the shoreline and spots someone sleeping on a rock. She carefully makes her way down the slippery slope towards the shore and recognizes the sleeper as Tak. She decides to leave the thermos of milk next to his head, but then hears him ask what she is doing. His droopy eyes stare up at her. Chapter 7 caution / 경계 - http://currygom.blog.me/220244288750 Tak's unexpected question shocks Ian, and she trips and falls into the water. Tak extends an arm to help her up, but she is annoyed that he didn't catch her first. She tells him that she will help herself up since she's a quarter anyway. As she tries to squeeze the water from her clothes, Tak tells her that he tried to catch her—but he stops himself from saying that he wanted to hug her instead. Ian tells him that since he has his milk, she will just leave now. Tak tells her not to go, which surprises her and makes her feel nervous. Tak tries to think of a good excuse for keeping her there, then asks her how to open the thermos. As she unlocks it, he observes that her hair is tied up, and she explains that her manager prefers ponytails. He questions the fact that she follows the preferences of her manager, and she responds that she naturally listens to her boss. She hands him the thermos. He stares at her as he sips, and she notices that his eyes are dark red. Ian Rajof—All of the heretics close to you are dead. Your future completely depends on the answer you give here. Ian's heart begins to pound. As she hastily stands up to leave, Tak quickly grabs her arm. He loosens his hold on her too late as she screams. It had been a long time since he needed to adjust the strength of his grip, and he blames his own impatience. Tak agonizes over what to say before he begins to tell her to regenerate...then realizes that she is unable to. Meanwhile, Ian is terrified and confused. When Tak takes a step towards her, she runs away, holding her shattered left arm. He watches her run and stagger, and gets the urge to hug her again. As he tries to figure out what to do next, Ian hides behind a rock and cries. Tak is worried that she's hurt and upset, and mentally blames Vishnu and the earrings for this situation. Tak never felt guilt for killing gods, suras, or even humans (usually for being noisy while he's trying to sleep), so he is concerned that the crying girl won't be safe from him as things are now. But he wants to reach out to her and see her smile again. This is not like him at all; he is a dragon clan nastika and shouldn't be feeling distraught over a human girl, but he is. As Ian gets up from behind the rock, Tak puts on the earrings. Chapter 8 passion - http://currygom.blog.me/220244289112 Ian has no time to admire the starry night. She only thinks of escape as she sees Tak standing in front of her, both hands held up to his ears. She begins to cry in fear. When the boy whispers to her asking her if the pain is bad, she is surprised by his sudden change in tone. Her fear turns to anger and she retorts that of course it hurts. He then gently touches her cheek as she tells him that the pain is the worst she has ever felt. Another tear falls, and he carefully wipes it away. Ian realizes that the atmosphere around him has completely changed from one of danger to that of sadness. He blubbers an apology to her and cries. She tells him that it will be okay since she can get treated in the city, and that she knows he didn't do it on purpose so he can stop crying. When she holds his hand and smiles at him, he grabs her right hand gently this time, picks her up, and instantly carries her to the checkpoint before she realizes what is happening. He tells her that he would carry her directly to a magician, but the checkpoint is as far as he can go. She tells him that it's fine, and wonders how this could possibly be the same half as before; maybe he has mental problems. More questions come to mind as she passes through the checkpoint, and she realizes that his horns were no longer visible. Tak sits down as soon as Ian is out of view. The earrings are confusing his mind and making him behave differently, and he suddenly realizes that he cried. He is not used to all these feelings that are no longer dulled, and he shakes his head to clear his thoughts, causing the earrings to come off. He decides that the earrings are trash after all, picks them up, and throws them into the sea. He watches the waves come in twice before he hurriedly rushes to the water and jumps in. ♢ ♢ ♢ The checkpoint staff is shocked at the sight of Ian's arm. She tries to explain that she fell, but they assume she met a hostile half. They tell her to go to the infirmary while they report the situation to their superiors. The staff refuses to listen to her explanation so she decides to deal with her painful injury first. ♢ ♢ ♢ Dripping wet, Tak wonders to himself why he feels relieved to have found the earrings. He tries to rationalize it by telling himself he needs to properly return it to Vishnu. He walks along the shoreline and absentmindedly picks up the thermos of milk. If it wasn't for Ian's injured arm, he would have embraced her without hesitation. He realizes that he is no longer normal. He then hears a commotion coming from the direction of the checkpoint, and soon a crowd of humans gather around him, some with weapons, and the rest wearing elaborate magician robes. One of them questions him if he was the one who broke the arm of the milk delivery girl, but Tak feels no need to answer. As the humans begin to chatter among themselves, he decides to simply deny it, and says, "No idea." One of the humans calls him a liar, and he realizes that he is still holding the thermos half full of milk. Chapter 9 power / 힘 - http://currygom.blog.me/220244289533 As her arm is being healed, Ian hears the sound of many people rushing through the checkpoint. She deduces that it is a group of fighters and magicians going out to hunt Tak, the half who injured her. She realizes that she needs to stop them, but the magician treating her will not let her leave when she tries to rush out. After spending a bit of time doing her best to persuade him, she finally runs out of the checkpoint and into hot, humid air, unusually heavy with pressure, bringing forth the fear of danger ahead and making her footsteps tremble. But Ian's worry over Tak overcomes this ominous feeling. She ignores the crushing pressure and runs straight to the beach. Tak continues to sit on the rock drinking his milk as the humans around him find it difficult to move, frozen by fear. Tak tries to goad them into attacking him, then decides to stand up and approach them instead. He stops in his tracks when hears Ian shouting, "Please, wait!" Exhausted from running, she pleads with the others not to attack the half because he isn't a bad person. Tak notices that Ian's arm appears much better, and suddenly the pressure in the air dissipates. When the fighters come to their senses they charge at the half, but they meet empty air, their weapons hitting only rocks. The fighters turn around in fear and see that the half is already standing in front of Ian. As she tries to explain to everyone that her injury was an accident, one of the fighters exclaims that the half is holding Ian hostage, and her shrieking protests only further the misunderstanding. She notices that Tak is holding the thermos again and remembers how he cried over her broken arm, so she quickly decides to take a risk on his behalf. As a magician begins to order an attack, Ian quickly jumps into Tak's arms. The fighters and magicians hesitate, confused. She continues to hold onto him, then turns her head around and sees the others standing down. At last, Ian has the opportunity to explain that her injury was an accident, that she would even sponsor this half if she could, and that she is in the process of getting a magic certificate. Since one of the magicians is one of her regular customers, he is able to convince the rest to accept her explanation when they discuss the situation. Finally, the magicians and fighters return to the checkpoint, some still eying the half suspiciously. Ian expresses her relief, then realizes that she is still hugging Tak and backs away. He remains silent, so she tells him that she had to do it so he wouldn't be hurt or killed, then suggests that he be more careful in the future. He finally responds, asking if her arm is better. Ian replies that it is, and he gently lifts her arm to inspect it. He then turns around, sits back on the rock, and fiddles with the thermos trying to eke out the last remaining drop of milk. Ian thinks to herself that this scene, along some seaweed stuck in Tak's horns, seems somewhat cute. When he makes eye contact with her, she doesn't know what else to say so she decides to head back to the checkpoint. She slips (again) on the wet rocks, and Tak is there to catch and steady her. She feels a pang in her heart that she had never felt for other men who would often come to her shop, but her little revelry is broken when Tak suddenly brings up the topic again of her vendetta against Taksaka. His questions and observations about her physical abilities bring to mind the interviewer at the magic school. She stands up, feeling dejected, and begins to cry and head to the checkpoint. Chapter 10 the dragon's sponsor (1/3) / 용의 보증인 (上) - http://currygom.blog.me/220244290088 Tak, unable to relate to Ian's feelings, paces on the beach as he tries to analyze her desire to defeat Taksaka and what made her cry. His curiosity gets the better of him and he puts the earrings on. He then realizes that the purpose was to give her something to live for, and regrets that his words only served to crush her spirit. He knows that this would never have occurred to him without the earrings on, and realizes that he needs them in order to meet Ian again. He cannot rely on Vishnu, and he still needs a way to get through the checkpoint. As he gazes up at it, he thinks to himself that he has no issue posing as a half, but he is dreading the vegetables test. Does she mean that much to him? He turns around and returns to the beach. ♢ ♢ ♢ Alone at night, Ian returns home in the Mistyshore Residential District. She is feeling depressed because of the checkpoint bill of 10 gold coins for her arm. She laments her high magic failure rate for preventing her from healing herself, and sees a book titled Time Logic on her shelf that is too complicated for her to comprehend. She understands that she doesn't have the skills to train as a fighter, so magic is her only realistic goal. She always overcame her psychological obstacles with the mindset that humans can do anything they set their mind to, but today she feels like giving up. ♢ ♢ ♢ The dark night of the desert is interrupted by a bright light that seems to pour down from above. The light forms into the shape of a huge beast before shrinking into the shape of a tall woman with white hair in multiple braids, holding the hand of what appears to be a 15-year-old boy wearing dark sunglasses and holding a cane. The woman tells the boy that they have arrived on Planet Willarv in a desert to avoid being detected by humans, and that Mistyshore is still a little further away. The boy asks if they are going to meet Tak, the person Vishnu told them about, and the woman warns the boy to call him Taksaka if he values his life. The boy then asks if Taksaka is so strong that even she needs to be cautious around him, and she replies that he wouldn't understand. The boy complains that she only sees him as a kid, even though he is a quarter and technically an adult. The woman then tries to explain that the gods are not immortal, yet they endlessly resurrect, and that Taksaka is capable of killing gods—more precisely, he can destroy the current time. When the boy asks her to elaborate, she only responds that she told him he wouldn't understand. As she holds his arm, he asks her to take him to the nearest town and then he would walk the rest of the way alone. She tells him okay, and they walk quickly through the desert. ♢ ♢ ♢ The next morning, Tak stands on the beach near the checkpoint feeling determined, and conjures clothes and accessories for himself (a nastika ability) based on what he had seen the fighters and magicians wearing the night before, mixing things up so it doesn't appear that he copied anyone. After he finishes tidying himself up and checking that the earrings are on, he feels ready to find a magician to sponsor him, and walks toward a nearby road. His mind is filled with scenarios of himself and Ian, mainly of himself gazing at her face, and he never once considers the fact that he will not meet her at all. Next: Notes * Paragraphs that were deleted when chapters were transferred to the blog are in blue text. ** The section about the barrier system was later included in the appendix of Volume 7. * It is a myth among humans that suras do not sleep. For instance, nastikas do not require sleep, but some (particularly dragons) enjoy it nonetheless. * The book Time Logic is apparently required to learn the healing spell hoti asvins. In the webtoon, Ran is shown burning his copy of Time Logic because of his frustration in learning the spell. References Category:The Finite